Wall St. Brief: FTC Hates on Facebook and Why RIMM CRASHES

Research in Motion (NASDAQ:RIMM) shares are down 8% in morning trading after the company’s released its business update on Tuesday. The announcement included a surprise operating loss for the fiscal quarter one, additional job cuts and the hiring of JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) and RBC (NYSE:RY) to help with a “strategic review; ” this will encompass licensing and partnership opportunities. RIM neither gave details of the loss and employee cuts, nor mentioned a possible sale of the company.

At the AllThings D conference on Tuesday, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) CEO Tim Cook said the company will “double down” on secrecy, but shared enough to keep loyal Apple fans intrigued for months. This included the following nuggets, according to Seeking Alpha: Apple’s TV box is “an area of intense interest,” “we can do more” with Facebook (NASDAQ:FB), different-sized iPads and iPhones and “If we find we can do more, great.”

Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) has received a “second request” by the Federal Trade Commission regarding its Instagram acquisition. The agency has requested lots of data, suggesting a long review. With the Facebook and Instagram control of the mobile photo-sharing market and the launch of Facebook Camera, concerns have been raised by regulators. This comes as Facebook’s shares fell 9.6% on Tuesday to close at $28.84. In early morning trading today, shares rebounded 1.3%.

Now that Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) has Motorola under its control, AllThingsD has reported that Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) looks toward a settlement in their patent dispute. Android and Xbox injunctions have already been flying around. Last summer, Microsoft and Motorola had been near a deal but not so anymore.

Sony (NYSE:SNE) and Panasonic (NYSE:PC) are the top suitors for an equity stake in Olympus (OCPNY.PK), reported Asahi Shimbun (via Reuters). A decision may be reached by the end of the June with the opportunity for the winner to take a more than 10% stake in the company, valued at several hundred million dollars.